Faithless Faith/Faithful Faith

Faithless Faith and Faithful Faith

Introduction:

Good morning Forestview, and to all those visiting with us this morning: welcome!

We are continuing in our journey through James, and so I invite you to open your bibles to James 2:14.

This is a difficult text that we are about to read, and the difficulty has to do with the how faith and works relate to salvation.

On the surface, it may seem (if you are familiar with the writing of the apostle Paul) it may seem as if James is proclaiming a theology—regarding faith and works—that is at odds with what Paul has proclaimed elsewhere.

For instance, in Romans 3:28, Paul states that a person is justified by faith apart from works of the law.

whereas here, in verse 24, James states that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.

And so, we may be thinking: ok, which is it? Are we justified by faith alone, or are we justified by faith and works? There seems to be a tension here!

But I am hoping that we will see that James is not here contradicting Paul, but rather that he is complimenting Paul.

That the two of them are looking at the same thing from a different perspective:

Paul is looking at the role of works before to salvation, and James is looking at the role of works after salvation.

And when we see these perspectives as being different because of the order at which they are looking at faith and works, the tension begins to dissapate.

Perhaps this image might be helpful:

Think of Paul as coming along side us on one side in order to prevent us from going too far in this direction (and “this direction” being the belief that we need to work (or live) a life that is worthy of salvation.

And Paul is saying, “No! You know you are incapable of living a life that is in complete obedience to God.

But here’s the good news: God came in Jesus—the long-awaited Messiah—and lived that perfect life . . . and having received the salvation that such a life merits, he has now turned to us and said,

“Come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden . . . I will give you rest. I have accomplished this, and now I make it available to you.

Put your faith, you trust, in me, and I will see you through. That is where Paul is coming from—he is preventing us from going too far this way.

But in bouncing off the barrier that Paul has put up, we might go too far the other way and think:

“Well, if I am saved by faith and not works, then maybe works don’t really matter.”

And here’s where James comes in. He says, “Wait a minute. Stop. Think about that.

Yes: you do not do good works for salvation, but you do it because you have been saved. You love others because God has loved you. You give yourself to others because God gave himself for you.

We don’t work so as to receive salvation—we work out the salvation we have already received.

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, you are an ever-present help. You are always there to turn to for wisdom and understanding. And so, we ask once again: Helps us to both hear and respond to the message that you have inspired through your servant James. Amen.

Passage (James 2:14-27)

14) What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them?

15) Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food.

16) If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it?

17) In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

18) But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”

Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds.

19)You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that —and shudder.

20) You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless?

21) Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar?

22) You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did.

23) And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend.

24)You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.

25) In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction?

26)As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

And that is the theme of what James has written here: Faith without deeds is dead. It’s easy to spot because of how many times it’s repeated.

Now, we are going to follow James as he leads us down this trail of thought that he has laid out for us—but before doing so—I thought it might be good to get a birds eye view of the landscape that we are about to navigate through to get the overall picture.

This passage can be divided up into two main sections:

the first being bogus faith or counterfeit faith, and the second being genuine faith.

And those two main sections can be divided further still into two sections: Bogus faith and how it is useless in relation to others and Bogus faith and how it is useless in relation to God. And then Genuine faith, and how it is productive in relation to God, and how genuine faith is productive in relation to others.

That is the overarching narrative of this passage, but now let’s meet James at the beginning of the trail.

1) Bogus Faith and how it’s Useless in Relation to Others

And James, he begins by asking a rhetorical question that assumes a negative response. “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them?”

Now, before answering James, we need to understand what he has not asked.

He has not asked, “What good is it if someone has faith but has no deeds”. (That they actually have faith)

Instead, he has asked, “What good is it if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds.”

We have here a person who has made a claim, but there is no evidence to support that claim.

And without any evidence what are we, the reader, to conclude? Is such a faith genuine? Is it real?

In other words, as James has asked, “can such faith save them?” And the answer that is assumed is no. It can’t. Why? Because James is saying this is not really faith . . . it’s not real.

It’s a claim, yes, but it has not been shown to be anything more than that.

Is My Faith Genuine?

Now we might be standing back and wondering if our faith is genuine. And if we are, I think that is exactly what James would hope from us as a response (not because he wants us to live in doubt, quite the opposite)

but because he wants us to be asking that important question:

“What is genuine faith? And what is a counterfeit faith that would lure us away from genuine faith?”

And for those of us who desire to know what real faith in God looks like . . . and what comes from such faith, this is paramount!

Who am I to Judge?

But we also might be tempted to shy away from such a judgement, after all, who am I to say a person’s claim is false . . . and there is merit to that, we should be cautious.

And perhaps this is why James refers to “someone” in general rather than a specific person . . . he might have done this because he wants us, the readers, (not to be looking at others) but to take our own claim to faith seriously.

And in doing so, we must not overlook the importance of evidence and how it helps us to distinguish between genuine faith and artificial faith.

And James now offers us a specific context to flush this out.

15) Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 16) If one of you (he now gets specific . . . he’s pointing at us) If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it?

This is akin to us saying, God bless you. I hope things work out for you. I’ll be praying for you . . . all the while having in our possession, the very things that they are in need of.

I think we can all see the problem here, right? We can see what’s missing.

This is that “faith” that is useless in relation to others.

James summarizes this section in verse 17:

17) In the same way, faith by itself, if not accompanied by action, is dead.

It’s kind of like these trees: you know they are dead when their branches are bare—in season when they ought not to be—that is a sign that they are dead.

In the same way, James is saying, faith – if it does not produce good works (a change in the way that we relate to others) – that’s a sign or a symption of a faith that is dead.

2) Bogus Faith and how it is Useless in Relation to God

18) But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds.

And this is kind of a confusing statement because we are left wondering . . . Who is the “you”—”You have faith”, and who is the I, “I have deeds”?

Is the first James, and the second, his apponent? But James is the one arguing for a faith that is accompanied by deeds! So, it can’t be James. So, who is it?

One way of making sense of this is to see the “you and I” not as specific people, ie – James and this imaginary opponent, but rather as people in general.

We could read this as someone arguing: “One has faith; another has deeds”, as if genuine faith could live on its own and could b evident all on its own, apart from works.

And this makes sense of James’ response. “Show me . . . show me your faith without deeds! How would you do that? You can’t! It’s not possible. But I can show you my faith by my deeds.”

In other words: good works are the evidence of a genuine faith because a genuine faith always produces good works.

And now we get to the faith that is useless in relation to God:

Believing That vs Believing In

And then, in verse 19, James writes, You believe there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that — and shudder.

This seems to be a response to a possible objection… for someone might say, “Yeah I can show you my faith without deeds . . . My theology is sound. I believe there is one God!”

And this was likely a reference to a famous passage for Israel found in Deuteronomy 6:4, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.”

This was a theological statement that was very important to Israel because it set the Israelites apart as distinct from all the other nations – for all other nations believed in numerous created gods, but Israel alone believed in one uncreated eternal God.

And James is saying, “that’s good! It’s true. Your theology is bang on!

But remember, even the demons believe that—and shudder.

The demons know that the Lord is one, and yet that knowledge (alone) has done nothing to reconcile their relationship with God for they still live in disobedience and shudder at the very thought of their coming judgment.

James is saying that the demons believe that God is one, but they do not believe in that one God.

A person can believe that God exists and still not believe in God—trust God, have faith in God. … in otherwords, be in a right relationship with God.

And James now contrasts this bogus “faith” of the demons that is useless in relation to God with genuine faith and how it is useful in that regard.

3) Genuine Faith, and how it is Useful in Relation to God

20) You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless?

21) Was not our father Abraham…

And here we need to remember what Pastor John shared at the begining of this series and how James was writing specifically to his Jewish brothers and sisters who were scattered all over the known world?

And for them, Abraham was the ultimate example of genuine faith. The very mention of his name would have piqued their interest ten fold. What would James say of our father Abraham??!!

...was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar?

James is here referring to a pivotal event in the history of Israel: a story that is told in Genesis 22 where Abraham (whom Paul called “the father of all who believe” in other words, the prime example of genuine faith) where he was called by God to offer his only son, whom he loved, to God in sacrifice.

This is a story that is next to impossible to comprehend on its own. But thankfully, we soon discover that it was only Abraham’s trust in God, his faith in God, that was being tested here—

? would Abraham trust God even with the life of his one and only son whom he loved?

Answer… Yes! And no sooner had his faith proven genuine—was it vindicated, was it “justified”—did an angel of the Lord step in and stop the sacrifice from taking place.

Abraham’s faith was proven genuine.

22) You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did.

The word that is here translated as “made complete”, it carries with it the idea of purpose or aiming towards a goal or a proper end. In fact it is the very word that Jesus spoke on the cross when he proclaimed: “It is finished.” And in this we see that genine faith is not passive nor aimless… it is active, and it’s proper aim is the will of God.

And what comes from such faith?

And then in verse 23: And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” This is a quote from Gen 15:6, and then he goes on to say: and he was called God’s friend.

Why did James tack this on to the quote?

Remember the demons, and how they had a “faith,” or “right theology” that resulted in them shuddering, being afraid, hiding from God?

Well, that is here contrasted with Abraham’s faith that resulted in him not shuddering... but instead, being called a friend of God.

You see that? Bogus faith results in fear whereas genuine faith results in friendship with God.

And then James summarizes this section in verse 24: You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.

This is that difficult statement that we looked at at the beginning.

The same point is driven home with each example: faith without deeds is dead, faith with deeds is alive.

Martin Luther, the great reformer who rediscovered the good news that we are saved by faith alone, is credited to have said something like: although we are saved by faith alone, such a faith never remains alone—good works follow.

A genuine faith does wonders in our relationship with God and our relationship with others. And that is where James now brings us . . .

Genuine Faith, and how it’s Useful in Relation to Others

25) In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction?

This story is found in the book of Joshua. Rahab had come to believe that the God of Israel was the one true God, and James is pointing out that her faith was proven to be genuine when she put her own life on the line to protect the spies who had come in the name of that one true God.

Her own people, the Canaanites, were trying to find them in order to kill them, but she helped them to escape.

This example of Rahab is contrasted with the very first example that James raised: the person who says, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs.

Well, Rahab’s faith caused her to not only wish for the spy’s wellbeing, it also moved her to do what she could to actualize that wellbeing.

She gave of what she had, and in so doing, she is given by James of an example of a faith that is useful in relation to others.

In effect, James is saying: do likewise, my fellow believers; follow the examples of genuine faith that both Abraham and Rahab have offered.

And then James concludes all of this with the words in 26: As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

It is interesting to note that the word for spirit, in Greek, it also means wind and breath.

And so, James can say: Just as breathing proves a body to be alive (that is often the first thing that we check to see if someone is alive) so also do good works prove a faith to be alive.

Now, in conclusion, where does all this lead us? How do we respond to all this? I’d like to suggest that =+